[imagesource: Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn]

A woman in Thailand, dubbed ‘Am Cyanide’ by Thai media, has been sentenced to death for the murder of a wealthy friend in the first of her 14 murder trials.

Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn is considered the worst serial killer in the kingdom’s history, convicted of lacing her friend’s food and drink with poison during a trip last year, which is one among a chilling series of cyanide poisonings she is said to have committed.

The 36-year-old online gambling addict is accused of swindling thousands of dollars from her victims before killing them with the chemical, and also stealing their jewellery and valuables afterwards.

A court in Bangkok convicted her on Wednesday for fatally poisoning her friend Siriporn Kanwong, who is also known as Koy. The two women met up near Bangkok in April last year to release fish into the Mae Klong River as part of a Buddhist ritual.

The court heard how the 32-year-old victim collapsed and died after a meal with Sararat, who made no attempt to help, per BBC. An autopsy revealed cyanide in Siriporn’s body, and her belongings were gone when she was found.

Relatives refused to accept the death as natural, leading to Sararat’s arrest and the discovery of a string of previously unsolved cyanide poisonings dating back to 2015. One victim even survived.

“You got justice, my child. Today, there is justice in this world,” Siriporn’s mother, Thongpin Kiatchanasiri, said in front of the courtroom, as she held a photo of her daughter.

Police say Sararat had a gambling problem and targeted friends she owed money to, robbing them of their valuables after poisoning them, per ABC News.

Police said Sararat funded her gambling addiction by borrowing money from her victims — in one case as much as 300,000 baht (over R23 million) — before killing them and stealing their jewellery and mobile phones.

She lured 15 people — one of whom survived — to take poisoned “herb capsules”, they said.

Sararat faces an additional 13 murder trials and has been charged with around 80 offences in total.

Thongpin said that out of anger, she could not stand to look at Sararat, who she said was smiling when the sentence was being read. Sararat pleaded not guilty to the charges against her.

Her former husband, an ex-police officer, was handed a prison term of one year and four months, while her lawyer was handed two years, for hiding evidence to help her evade prosecution. They had also pleaded not guilty before Wednesday’s sentencing.

The ex-husband, Vitoon Rangsiwuthaporn, gave himself up last year. Police said he most likely helped Sararat poison an ex-boyfriend, Suthisak Poonkwan.

Thailand has been dealing with several sordid and high-profile criminal cases involving this poison. Earlier this year, six foreigners were found dead in a luxury Bangkok hotel after a cyanide poisoning believed to be connected to debts worth millions of baht.

[source:bbc]